Anger at Bar Hill bridge problems following £1.5bn A14 upgrade

Problems causing a bridge installed as part of the £1.5billion A14 upgrade scheme to sink have gone “way beyond” what is acceptable, a councillor has said.

It comes just weeks after it was revealed that National Highways had not installed monitoring equipment to discover the rate of movement at Bar Hill bridge despite telling councillors they would do so last year.

Cllr Edna Murphy said it was “completely unacceptable” and warned that “many residents” have suffered damage to their vehicles, for which they have been unable to claim on their insurance.

“It is incredibly frustrating. I feel so sad for residents having to put up with this,” she told the Cambridge Independent.

Concerns were first raised about the bridge at the Bar Hill interchange a year ago, with the road surface sinking and cracks appearing in the structure.

An interim fix was put in place by National Highways, which assured councillors it would install monitoring equipment. Last month, it revealed that the equipment had not been installed.

Cllr Murphy, who represents Bar Hill on Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “One can only conclude they’re not really on the case.

“They haven’t got any sense of urgency about it.”

The Lib Dem councillor continued: “They do recognise that there is a problem and they helped the county council do an interim fix. It’s not actually dangerous to cars, and it’s not going to collapse, but the settlement does mean that the ramps move slightly, and then that becomes the bump that people experience.

“This is horrible. It’s completely unacceptable. It’s awful for residents and people in Bar Hill who have to make that journey every day because it’s the only way in and out. It’s worn their patience down.”

A National Highways spokesperson said: “Land around the Bar Hill bridge on the A14 is experiencing settlement on the embankments.

“This is not uncommon in structures of this type and the bridge remains stable and safe.

“Ongoing monitoring of this issue has been taking place for over a year, initially in the form of visual inspections by engineers, and this will now be enhanced to include digital monitoring.

“This is part of a phased assessment process as we continue our work with Cambridgeshire County Council to determine the root cause and put an appropriate solution in place.”

Cllr Murphy presented a motion to the county council last October, calling for the authority to put together a report highlighting all the ongoing issues that have been created by the building of the A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon.